Camelot Does Netball
by The Camelot Netball Team
Summary: It was just like any average day in Camelot, until five teenage girls appeared out of nowhere, were suspected of sorcery, and sentenced to death. But then they have a smart idea. To challenge Prince Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to a game of the noble sport of... Netball! With Uther going slowly insane, Knights in dresses and general mischief, what isn't there to love?
1. Chapter 1 - An Unexpected Arrival

CHAPTER 1 – An unexpected arrival.

It was a slightly drizzly day in Camelot. It was cold, the sky was overcast and rain was inevitable. All in all, a day like any other. That is, until a large swirling portal appeared in the sky and shot five people out of it. And then it started to snow. Whoopdee-freaking-doo. As the five landed with a solid _thud_ on the ground one of the nearby guards came to arrest them for sorcery.

"By the order of Uther Pendragon you are hereby under arrest for practicing magic in the kingdom of Camelot," He said, whistling for assistance before grabbing one of the teenage girls that had been unceremoniously dumped in the castles courtyard.

"Crap," The girl said rather loudly. She had blonde hair in a bun and was wearing glasses.

More guards came and tried to arrest the girls but the one with brown and red hair went, to put it simply, ballistic. She threw a punch at the man who tried to grab her and her fist connected with his jaw with a sickening _crunch_. Two more guards came at the girl and one of them received a solid kick to the face, knocking off his helmet and making him fall to the ground. The other grabbed her from behind and she crushed his instep with a solid stomp before whipping her head back into his nose making him let go. That was when the knights got involved.

The other girls had been got but were struggling wildly against their captors in an attempt to escape. The still free girl eyed the knights warily and took up a loose fighting stance. The knights drew their swords and the girl simply smirked. "Surrender now and we will not harm you," Arthur said from the front of the group.

"Fat chance," One of the knights laughed at the girl.

"You're tiny, you can't beat us," Percival said.

"And you're a girl," Arthur stated.

"And you're an idiot, captain obvious," The girl replied.

The knights laughed again and the girl rolled her eyes.

"He's not a captain, he's a princess," Objected Gwaine with a dejected sigh, this time getting laughs from the captured girls.

Arthur turned to glare at Gwaine, giving the girl enough time to jump at Arthur and spin-kick his face. Merlin raised his hand to perform a spell to defend Arthur but decided against it at the last second. The girl's foot hit the prince's face with a wet crack, dislocating his jaw. As Arthur fell to the ground from the impact of the blow, he grabbed the girl's leg and threw her to the stone that paved the courtyard. The girl tried to get up, wincing as she did so, only to be grabbed by Percival. When she tried to stamp on his foot he lifted her into the air and she continued to struggle quite humorously, shouting profanities as she did so.

With that the knights and their 'captives' began to traipse back towards the castle.

When they reached the castle they were brought before King Uther.

"What have we here?" He asked.

"That is _the _most clichéd line, ever." The black haired girl stated, "Hi. I'm Rebecca."

"She's right you know. I'm Katie," The blonde said.

"'What have we here' usually indicates that you are the bad guy in a situation. Having not given us a chance to explain ourselves proves my theory correct," The brown, curly haired one explained. Everyone looked at her weirdly. "And my name's Lili if you want to know."

"That was insightful. My name's Holly," Holly commented.

The other one just banged her head against the wall. She stopped for a moment and looked up. "Emma," She said simply.

"We don't care what your names are, sorcerers," Uther retorted.

"We plead innocent?" Holly said unsurely.

"There is no innocence in your crimes," Uther retaliated, "The practise of sorcery is forbidden and for it you shall be executed."

"Well, that's a bit unfair," Rebecca protested.

"Indeed! We, uhh, we… what do we do now?" Emma looked to Lili.

"We petition the kingdom for the right to… uhh… live?" Lili improvised.

"Or play netball," Katie said.

Holly slapped Katie upside the head before realisation dawned on her, "We petition the kingdom for the right to play netball, gambling with our lives. Should we win, we are to be let free."

"We refuse to play this ball of net that you seem so adamant about," Uther protested.

"Then you are disqualified by default," Lili said.

"That means we win," Emma pointed out.

After a short and whispered exchange by Prince Arthur and his father, Uther turned back to them and spoke "We will grant you this game of "net and the ball" our team will naturally be made up of the knights of Camelot, and I (he drew himself up pompously) will umpire."

A collective "ah" came out from the expectant girls and the knights looked momentarily confused.

"Scared of losing?" Smirked Sir Gwaine with a glance between the five girls before him.

"I don't think we are the ones that should be worried" replied the girl who introduced herself as Emma.

"It's the idea of an extremely biased umpire which may cause us some problems" muttered Holly to Katie who nodded in agreement, but just loud enough so that the mildly confused King could hear.

"Enough!" Yelled Uther making Gaius immediately wake up from his peaceful doze he had been having at the table. ("How long had he been there!?" Whispered Lili to Emma who merely shrugged.)

"You shall stay in the cells until the game, which shall be held tomorrow, starts." Said Uther, suspicious that they might use sorcery to escape.

"Sire, if I may speak?" Leon asked, not wanting to enrage the King further. A nod from the King and he continued.

"Should we not show our hospitality and let them stay elsewhere in the castle? After all there are lots of guest rooms…?"

"No" Replied Uther and he wandered out of the council chambers slamming the door behind him, just as Elyan and Lancelot walked in after being on patrol on the northern borders. They cast a worried glanced at each other at the Kings apparent rage and stopped suddenly when they saw five teenage girls in the council chambers, along with a shell shocked Leon, laughing Gwaine and Merlin and Arthur, who had the distinct air about him of losing a fight.

There was a crash and a yell from somewhere down the corridor and those knights who weren't _still _rolling on the floor laughing ran out to see what the commotion was. 27 seconds later (It appeared Rebecca had counted) they came back in with a grin.

"The King had fallen over a table" Lancelot declared as serious as he could. At this point Gwaine and Merlin had just finished laughing at Leon, and therefore immediately started laughing again, much to Arthur's distress.

"Pull yourselves together will you!" He half shouted at his knights, clearly amused himself. Then he turned to the girls.

"I am deeply sorry about my fathers…inhospitality, but… well you shouldn't have practised magic in the first place!"

"We didn't" said Holly and she launched into an explanation into how they ended up in Camelot.

"You know what?" Arthur said with a sigh "I just don't want to know. Lancelot and Elyan looked slightly less confused about the proceedings but still unclear what was to happen.

"It was a good story" murmured Katie with a knowing glance between her companions "But if you insist _Sire_" she added with what could only be described as a sarcastic smile.

"Leon, Percival, Lancelot and Elyan, would you please escort these girls to the guest bedrooms near the kitchens" Ordered Arthur, clearly choosing to ignore his father's requ…demands. Leon threw him a 'Is that wise' look earning him a shrug and a "as if my father would check the cells" from Arthur. The girls brightened up and this and Rebecca even went as far as to let out a small "Yippee!"

"And," he announced tiredly glancing at his knight and manservant "If you two don't shut up soon it will mean the stocks for both of you!" Gwaine and Merlin quickly stopped laughing and walked towards the door.

"Clotpole" murmured Merlin.

"Princess" replied Gwaine.

The girls and knights chuckled and it even drew a small smile from the irritated prince. As the knights went to lead the girls out, they thanked the prince and left him alone (well, with a dozing Gaius). As soon as they were out of earshot Arthur practically skipped over to his sleeping physician and prodded him, hard.

"Whaaaaat?" Asked a sleepy Gaius with a yawn.

"How on _earth _do you play netball Gaius!?" Asked Arthur desperately.


	2. Chapter 2 - Of Grapes and Ankles

CHAPTER 2 – Of Grapes, Ankles and Rules for the Game.

Meanwhile the girls were being led through the castle.

"So Sir Leon" asked Emma with a suspicious glint in her eye "How good at netball are you?" The other girls held back laughter at his momentarily confused face.

"Well, we are undoubtedly the best in the five kingdoms" Offered Leon

"We are what?" Asked Elyan earning a shove from Percival, who being quite strong managed to push him into a wall.

"Ouch!" Murmured Elyan, as the girls found yet another excuse to laugh – this was turning out to be more fun than they imagined!

"Yes, we are unbeaten" Nodded Percival enthusiastically earning him an encouraging nod from Leon.

"And so" questioned Lili "Who is on your team?" This team directing her question to Lancelot who clearly had no idea what was going on, having missed the earlier exchange.

"Well there's obviously us four" He stated looking around for help. The girls looked unimpressed. "Oh and Gwaine" they cast secretive looks around "And Arthur…" He said hesitantly – he didn't even know what they were talking about let alone how many were in a team! One girl, Emma, whispered to another who giggled then immediately put on a solemn face. "And Merlin…" The girls nodded, yet they still didn't seem satisfied.

"And your reserves?" Prompted Katie as they walked up some stairs and round a corner and saw an angry Uther approaching their way with a servant by his side. The knights desperately shoved them all in a room to the side and shut the door quietly behind them. Lancelot put his ear to the door and waited for Uther to pass before glancing back at his companions, some lying on the floor after being pushed in roughly by each other (by this he meant the girls pushing the knights in). He nodded as he heard footsteps pass, and they let out a sigh of relief.

"Where on earth are we?" Whispered Elyan glancing around at the dust covered corridor. Leon and Lancelot turned to face each other

"The third floor corridor" They whispered, the terror showing on their faces. With that Percival and Elyan paled, and they quickly pulled the girls to their feet and pulled them back through the door. They had all heard Gaius' warning one too many times…

"Arthur I have told you once and I have told you again I have no idea how to play this game you keep on insisting I tell you about!" Gaius said raising one solitary eyebrow with a quizzical look.

"But _Gaiuuuuus_" moaned Arthur slamming his head against the table with a groan.

"Although" Gaius continued, with a smirk on his wrinkly face "I know someone who might".

Three hours later and Arthur was sat slumped at a desk in the Castles library. Gaius and Geoffrey were having a great old chat as they flicked through books looking for this mysterious game known as "net – ball", but Arthur having dropped a book on the floor, had been forbidden to touch anything. And that meant anything. No goblet of wine (although he suspected Gaius and Geoffrey might have had his fair share) and nothing to keep his interest up. As another book was discarded into the pile Arthur sighed, and went to pick it up without either of them noticing. A short while later Arthur was standing outside the library rubbing his head where he had been whacked by the angry librarian. It wasn't his fault a grape exploded over it! And so he set off in search of someone to yell at. Namely, Merlin.

He walked into his chambers to find not only his idiot of a servant there grinning as he polished some shoes, but all of his knights it seemed. And they didn't look best pleased. Leon, Elyan, Percival and Lancelot were sitting sedately at his table, whilst Gwaine appeared to be jumping on his bed. Mature. As he strode into his _own_ bedroom, they all turned to face him and Gwaine quickly pretended he wasn't jumping on the bed by checking the ceiling for woodworm. The knights at the table folded their arms and looked… disapprovingly at him – surely that was treason!?

"Arthur" began Lancelot – he was clearly their elected spokesman "What does this game of net-ball involve? You see, we were thinking, what would happen if we lost…?"

"What he is trying to say is, you better know how to play Princess, as we have our reputation to uphold!" Said Gwaine, finally getting down from the bed. At this Merlin laughed and quickly ended up with polish all over his face from Gwaine. It was turning into one of those days… Arthur looked at his knights – no, friends, and told them the situation.

"Well, as much as Gaius, Geoffrey and I have tried, we have no idea what this game is" Arthur said, sad to have to let his friends down. Merlin sniggered and said

"I told you so" earning him a glare from Leon.

"Oh, but didn't we tell you Merlin you're playing too" Percival said innocently. Merlin glared back and began to mutter things under his breath as he threw the boots to the grounds.

"Well, then there's only one thing for it" Elyan said. 'Finally' thought Arthur, 'someone sensible might be able to help' as he glanced around at his friends.

"We will have to ask the girls" He said grimacing.

"NOOOOOOOOOO" yelled Gwaine admitting defeat and he held his head in his hands, completely forgetting about the black shoe polish still on them. They all laughed, and Gwaine glanced around warily – what had happened? Completely forgetting of course, that his face now had two black handprints all over it. Merlin grinned – already thinking what the rest of the castles reaction would be to the knights "make up".

"He's right" said Arthur to Gwaine, "although it is too much like admitting defeat if you ask me." The others nodded. "What rooms did you put them in?" He asked.

"Fourth floor, eastern corridor" Percival supplied usefully.

Of course, that was where they were _meant_ to be anyway. The knights wandered to the fourth floor, where the five strange girls were sat on their beds. Katie and Lili were discussing tactics for tomorrow's netball game, Becca and Holly were completely fangirling over the fact that they were in Camelot and just met Arthur, Merlin and the knights of Camelot, and Emma… well, Emma went to sleep, but the loud knock at the door woke her up and made everyone alert.

"Hello?" Lili said softly.

"I hope we are not interrupting anything" Arthur said politely.

"No, please. Come in" Holly invited them in. Arthur walked in first, promptly followed by the knights and Merlin tagged along on the end. "How may we help me?"

"We thought it was common courtesy to check upon our guests."

"Wait, about an hour ago we were charged with sorcery. So now, why are now being treated like guests?" Emma asked, now sat up in her bed.

"Well, since you are not known to Camelot, then I cannot make judgements about how you arrived"

"And also, you are women so it is only fair that we look after you-" Percival injected into the conversation.

"Are you saying because we are women, we cannot look after ourselves?" Katie asked as she stood up and gave Percival a stern look.

"Well…"

"Of course he is! I mean, just look at the state of all of you." Gwaine interrupted Percival. "You are all showing your ankles and wearing men's clothes. No woman should go around without a dress" At this point, Katie and Emma were fuming with rage. They looked at each other and stood up; Emma then punched Gwaine and Katie kicked him.

"By the way, don't attempt to wear make-up again Sir Gwaine." Katie replied to his impolite comment.

"It doesn't do you any favours." Emma finished Katie's sentence and the rest of the girls began to giggle.

Merlin emerged from the back of the group and saw Gwaine laying on the floor out cold. Holly saw him and grabbed Becca's arm in excitement as she just saw her favourite 'character' from the series.

"The real reason we are her is because do not know how to play your ball-of-net game and we…" Merlin looked back at the other knights and Arthur beckoning them forward "…were wondering if you could teach us". The girls looked at each other but before any of them were able to speak, Holly was the one to reply.

"YES! We would love to help you!" She screamed with excitement and nudged Becca. "Wouldn't we Becca?" Becca began to smile as she saw Arthur and the knights assembled in their room.

"If they need help, we will give them it." Becca said. She grabbed the piece of chalk that Lili was using and beckoned the knights over to herself, Holly and Emma. Whilst everyone was crowded around Katie's bed and Gwaine had finally regained his senses, Merlin was awkwardly standing at the door, not knowing what to do or who to talk to. Lili gave Katie a look which said _"We need to know"_ and Katie nodded in agreement. They walked over to Merlin who had just knocked something over (no surprise there).

"Merlin, can we talk to you?" Katie asked. Merlin looked surprised, why would they want to talk to Arthur's serving boy?

"Ummm… ok. Is something wrong? Would you like me to fetch you anything?" He asked.

"No Merlin. We need some information off of you." Lili replied. "We need to know what has just happened at this point in time."

"What do you mean?"

"What is the most recent event that has happened in Camelot?" Katie asked. Merlin pondered on a few thoughts for a moment until he came to a conclusion.

"Well, Morgana has just been exiled from Camelot for sorcery, and I guess that's why Uther has been so miserable and treating people harshly."

"So that means Arthur hasn't… you know…" Lili whispered to Katie. Katie nodded, knowing exactly what Lili meant.

"Merlin… There will come a point in time when-" Lili began to speak, but at that point Holly had just finished explaining to the knights how to play netball.

"Well thank you Miss Jenkins, Miss Price and Miss Brice for that… insightful explanation." Arthur exclaimed. The knights thanked Holly, Emma and Becca for their help and went to walk out the door, when Merlin nudged Arthur and gave him a look. Arthur had a blank expression on his face, when he remembered what he was supposed to say. "We were wondering… if the five of you would join the knights and me at dinner this evening"

The girls looked at each other in amazement. They tried to accuse them of sorcery and now they are treating them like princesses.

"Ummm… sure…." Holly finally replied after an awkward silence of about 5 seconds.

"Can we just stay like this?" Emma asked. "Sir Gwaine said the way we dress was 'inappropriate'" She scowled at him and Gwaine flinched.

"Merlin will be back with some dresses for all of you" Arthur said with a smile. "I said… Merlin will be back with dresses for you" This time he said it through his teeth and Merlin got the idea. He ran out of the room quickly to find 'suitable attire' for the girls. "We look forward to seeing you all at dinner" Arthur finished his sentence and walked out of the room with the knights closely behind him.


End file.
